Pages

Friday, September 09, 2011

Infinite momentum

You're bored already, I know. But I'm happy beyond my vocabulary capacity, so I quote another article, once more from Asiae. Because mah Big Dipper young men are being praised in serious sources. Some gender-unidentified people debuted decade ago and still no professional website wants to write about them. Oh what a pity.

Am I malicious and mean? Yes, and I can openly slate what needs to be slated. I'm not afraid of fangirls' retaliation. But yesterday we decided that writing separate post on this would be waste of time, energy and it may insult those good guys around here.

Article:

[NEWS] Infinite, Different From Idols These Days

“Congratulations, Infinite, on being 1st for weekly sales with their
official album.” This congratulating caption was placed recently on Mnet
M Wide News’ ‘Infinite’s Sesame Player’, because Infinite topped the
weekly charts at an album store. Although there were captions that
followed it like, “They don’t believe it even after seeing it
personally”, “Confidence suddenly rising up high”. On this day, Infinite
did street performances to increase their popularity. Although you can
say that their fandom’s support brought them to top an important album
chart, there are more unknown people that aren’t in the fandom.

It’s an obvious happening. Infinite isn’t part of the ‘Big 3
Entertainments’, consisting of SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and
JYP Entertainment. And they’re not girl groups either, who are closest
to the public right now. There aren’t any members that gained popularity
through variety shows either. Many male idol groups explain their group’s concept with ‘something-dol’, and enunciated each member’s specific character.
When they seek for a distinct gender, age, and class group, with a
definite concept, the chances for having a fandom created is higher and
the fandom spends money on the idols’ albums, performances, and
merchandise. Sometimes it’s a concept that causes the public to cringe
and then there are enthusiastic fans who find that it matches their
personal preference. However, Infinite are ‘group choreography-dols’. They do group dances without making the slightest of errors. And their videos at the practice room with exact choreography garners more interest than when they go on variety programs.

Idols Who Ran From 1990 And Came to 2011

The concept of dancing group choreography well is something that
doesn’t make much of a difference in today’s generation. However, group
choreography has a slightly different meaning to Infinite. Their album’s
title songs, ‘Come Back Again’-‘BTD’-‘Be Mine’, reenact the group
choreography from male idols of the 90’s. The members line up in perfect order and do the exact same motion as the others.
When it’s their part, the members walk out into the middle while
singing and at that time, the members go from left and right and do
their group choreography. A confusing and highly perfected
choreography that can only be done through excessive practice, the thing
that allows each of the members to look as cool as they can.
Infinite reenacts performances that seem like something H.O.T and
Shinhwa would’ve shown during the latter half of the 90’s. Their songs
also follow the material that male idol groups did back then. All 3
songs, ‘Come Back Again’, ‘BTD’, ‘Be Mine’, have choruses where they all
sing together for a short, but fierce part. All 3 songs have a rap in
the middle and show off their dance skills during a dance break in the
latter half. Idols these days rarely follow the special materials of an
idol group this thoroughly.

Reenacting the idols from the 90’s at 2011 could be pretty tacky. However, Yoo Heeyeol said that ‘Come Back Again’ is the best idol song of 2010.
‘Come Back Again’ has the special materials of a Korean male idol
group, while having a disco/funky rhythm that seems like it would come
out in the 1980’s. Following the speed of the disco/funky rhythm, they
fiercely sing the ‘Come Back Again’ part together, which is the
specialty of male idols. This is a ‘classic’ male idol song and a unique
idol song. They still have the freshness and passion, which is the
specialty of idol chorus singing, but the disco/funky rhythm make it
less tackier.

The fandom amount for Infinite, who has combined the 1980’s
disco/funky along with the 1990’s male idol group songs, is clear.
People who were fans of idol groups in the 90’s, know the charms of
Infinite’s group choreography. Also, the disco/funky sound is something
they listened to on pop music programs when they were younger. ‘Come
Back Again’ garnered the interest of fans who are influenced by the
1990’s idols and listeners who listened to music since the 80’s.
Separating from the members’ personalities or the group’s concept, their
songs and performances can appeal to people who still have feelings
from ‘back then’.

The Small Potential That Infinite is Showing Now

‘Be Mine’ clearly shows this after seeing Infinite’s personalities.
Their rhythm has become more angled overall since their disco/funky days
of ‘Come back Again’. Their composed sounds and the way they sing the
chorus make you think of the 1980’s pop groups, A-ha and Joy. Their
dance break has an intense electric guitar sound added to it just like
H.O.T’s songs and the latter half enunciates the male idol group’s
unique strong feel. The song’s charm is that even with this combination,
it still maintains the consistency of a 1980’s pop song. Even their
choreography adds on a new element onto the traditional male idol
group’s. Infinite’s group choreography during ‘Come Back Again’ is when
they stretch out their limbs and exactly match their starting and ending
points. On the other hand, the main movement in ‘Be Mine’, is during
the chorus where they look like they’ll stop dancing but continue right
on. Continuing movements and not cutting it off, causing the audience to
become tense then relaxed, is the recent style. Infinite’s
consistent ways for their songs and performances is slowly defining
their identity of a ‘team’ and as their identity becomes more clear,
they gain more popularity. Anyone who watches their
performances, especially those who liked idols during the 1990’s, will
give their attention to Infinite. Excessive effort is needed in order to
exactly match group choreography. They work hard to the point
where that effort shows and the fact that they’re idols who use those
results as their concept is rather charming in today’s society.

It’s hard to think that the current Infinite was created by their
entertainment’s strategy. If they were planning that, then they would’ve
let people know the members’ characters or the group’s identity more
effectively. It’s not like Infinite has amazing popularity either. The
fact that they’re male idol groups who sold out 20,000 copies for the
first edition of their official album means that they’ve only just
entered the real competition. However, Infinite isn’t in the Big 3
Entertainments, they’re not girl groups, and they haven’t succeeded with
variety programs. Their entertainment gave consistent songs and
performances to the group and Infinite perfected their stage to the
point where they could be recognized by the insides of idol fandoms. What
Infinite has shown so far is their small potential. Good contents and
consistent attempts. This is a potential that shows they can do
something with just that.